Since we started telling our friends, family and coworkers about our plan to travel the world for few months, we have been asked about what inspired us to do it. Frankly, it all started when we found out about our friends Ben and Cristina’s amazing 18 month honeymoon on which they embarked right after their French wedding in the fall of 2011. Back then Vlad and I thought that our friends were doing something amazing, but we also thought it was somehow easier for them to do it because they had  that “European mentality” (Ben is British and Cristina lived in London for a while) and long term travel is more common and accepted in Europe then it is in America. Even though we admired their plan, we also thought it was not something we could ever do. Until few months later when we traveled to Hawaii…

Anyone that has spent about half hour with us knows that we both love Hawaii. During our second Hawaiian visit in January 2012 we were really bummed we only had a week to spend there. There is just so much to explore and see. This visit left us wishing for an extended vacation and we started to think that perhaps what Cristina and Ben were doing wasn’t so unattainable for us after all.

In the next months we often fantasized about long term travel but the idea still seemed pretty crazy to us. Well, it actually it seemed more crazy to me as I am very practical while Vlad is more adventurous. I never thought I would be able to quit my job. Imagining that I would not be getting a paycheck every two weeks was very scary to me. But the desire to travel was already burning inside me. Nevertheless, I was very shy about publicizing this dream and only told a handful of people about it. I always ended it with a disclaimer that it it just a dream and it probably will never happen. I was worried that people would think I’m crazy or a daydreamer. And most of my friends did not believe I would go through with it. I was simply not that kind of a person.

In a meantime, Ben and Cristina came back from their amazing honeymoon right before New Years of 2012. Vlad and I hosted a get together at our apartment during which we heard details of their adventures and went through hundreds of their amazing photos. We were inspired even more because we just saw two of our friends successfully complete a long term trip around the world, settle back in NYC and find jobs. It finally occurred to me that life would go on after travel, we would go back to the workforce and just continue on with our lives. If there was ever a time to do it we should do it soon!

So the plan was born. We would get married in September, apply for Vlad’s green card and after that leave on an international trip. The plan finally felt right. Something clicked and we were ready for it. We read tons of blogs and books and realized that we are not the only ones with this plan. And now the time has come and we are about to leave on the first part of our trip. It only took us 3 years to do it.;-)

Thank you Cristina and Ben for being our inspiration!

Ben and Cristina kayakingBen and Cristina kayaking Cris & Ben enjoying their travels. Look how happy they are!